After three subpar performances, Georgia Tech quarterback Vad Lee needed a good game. He got it in Saturday’s 56-0 victory over Syracuse.
Using a less-is-more approach espoused by coach Paul Johnson, Lee efficiently led the option offense to touchdowns on six of his seven drives. The only drive he led that didn’t result in a touchdown ended when wide receiver DeAndre Smelter threw an interception.
Lee had 14 carries for 72 yards and two touchdowns. He also completed all three of his passes for 88 yards and a touchdown, before leaving midway through the third quarter.
“It was really a confidence-builder for the whole team just because we have big expectations and we still want to do great things this year,” Lee said.
Lee had taken a lot of heat for the team’s performances in the previous three games, all losses, in which relatively nothing clicked on the ground or through the air. He said he wasn’t aware of any criticism. But he knew that he and the rest of the team needed to clean up the mistakes that he said were holding it back.
The running game posted two of its worst performances of the season with 129 yards against Virginia Tech and 237 at BYU, two of the losses in the three-game losing streak. Lee averaged 2.0 yards per carry in the three games. With the option not working efficiently, the passing game didn’t work well either, with Lee tossing four interceptions (and no touchdowns) and completing just 33.3 percent of his passes.
“We were killing ourselves with penalties and turnovers,” Lee said.
Everything worked against Syracuse. The Yellow Jackets had 197 rushing yards by halftime. Lee didn’t even attempt a pass in the first half.
“I was aware,” he said with a laugh.
Johnson elected to open up the offense in the second half.
With Syracuse creeping closer and closer to the line, Lee went over the top, finding Darren Waller running open down a seam in the secondary for a 46-yard touchdown on Tech’s first drive in the second half. The score gave the Jackets a 35-0 lead.
“You saw what happens when you can run the ball, when play-action guys get behind them,” Johnson said.
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